


Reading Between the Lines

by flipflop_diva



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: During Canon, F/F, Pre-Relationship, Season 2 spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-13
Updated: 2015-02-13
Packaged: 2018-03-11 11:11:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3325379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flipflop_diva/pseuds/flipflop_diva
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jemma was a great scientist. She could pick up tiny details in a matter of seconds. But when it came to relationships, well, the same could not be said. Set during Season 2 of Agents of SHIELD. Spoilers for the winter finale.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reading Between the Lines

**Author's Note:**

  * For [igrockspock](https://archiveofourown.org/users/igrockspock/gifts).



Okay, so really, she should have known. Looking back on it, all the clues were there — and that was without Skye nudging her in the side and smirking at her from afar and whispering the truth she so adamantly denied time and time again. But then, Jemma had never really been the best with relationships — her entire existence with Fitz at the moment was proof of that (for goodness sake, she couldn’t even manage not to mess up her friendships!), not to mention she was always too busy studying (when she was younger) and then later working and then doing research on incredibly important, world-saving matters — things that actually _made a difference_ — to waste her time worrying about dating and relationships.

Being the best, joining SHIELD — _that_ is what she had aspired to, not marriage and love and babies or any of that silly nonsense.

So really, was it her fault if she hadn’t known? (Skye would say yes. Yes, it was. It really, really was.)

The first clue came the day they met. Not when this dark-haired beauty stared Jemma down and made Jemma feel like this was truly the last day of her life and she really ought to have thought about the whole Hydra undercover thing a lot more carefully before she agreed to it. That moment had been pure terror. But later that day, when the same dark-haired beauty had suddenly whipped around and took out two people and then ordered Jemma to follow her.

It had been a very odd moment for Jemma. This random stranger had _saved_ her from the clutches of death — and then, before she had even known her name, that same random stranger had grinned at her, looking her over with these intense blue eyes, and Jemma had felt her stomach clench.

She’d thought it was nerves in the face of maybe not actually facing imminent death — (Skye just shook her head when she relayed the story and told her she was so, so clueless) — and she hadn’t thought much more of it.

The second clue came much later that night. It had been a whirlwind of emotions arriving back at The Playground. Apologizing to Skye and making sure she knew that she had missed her so greatly and this didn’t change anything between them and then trying — and greatly failing — to have any type of conversation with Fitz and meeting the new people and getting a feel for where things stood and what all had happened since she’d been gone. It was a lot to take in; no wonder she hadn’t really picked up on much else (or at least, that is what she told herself).

But no matter that, it had happened hours after they had returned, after everyone else had sort of wondered away to do what it was they all did at night when they didn’t have to go hunt down Hydra cells. Jemma was tired, but the thought of going to her bed to sleep hadn’t set well with her. Maybe it was after being in her own little apartment for three months and then suddenly being back with everyone. Maybe it was knowing that people had changed without her while she was gone and she didn’t quite fit back in yet. She wasn’t sure, but she hadn’t wanted to sleep, so she had been up, hanging out in the kitchen, sitting at a table and munching on some cookies that just happened to be there. (The next morning Coulson would be quite upset that someone had taken his cookies without asking, but how was she to have known, really?)

It had been dark and silent, and she thought she was the only one awake, until she had slipped in. In the soft light of the lamp in the corner, Jemma could see her blonde hair sparkling.

“Blonde?” she had said, without even thinking about it. (Later — months later — she would wonder how Bobbi ever did anything more than roll her eyes at her and find someone better.)

But Bobbi had just laughed, and her voice was a little like music. “Sometimes I get tired of pretending,” she said. “Like to be a little more real.”

Jemma nodded. “Yes,” she said. “I am not good at pretending.”

“No?” Bobbi cocked her head. “I think you did a fine job. You kept Hydra fooled for months.”

“I would have been dead if not for you.”

“Yeah, well.” Bobbi shrugged. “Things happen.”

“I don’t think I’m cut out for undercover,” Jemma said.

“Really?” Bobbi said. “Because I think you’re cut out for a lot more than you realize.”

Jemma thought it was just being complimented like that by a very competent SHIELD agent that made her blush. (Skye would later smack her shoulder with a cry of, “Seriously?!?! What is wrong with you?”)

The third clue — or at least the really obvious third clue. Jemma supposed there were hundreds more in the meantime that she didn’t pick up on, because even by then Skye had been talking to her about Bobbi an awful lot. So much she’d thought maybe Skye had been in to her herself, but Jemma was not good with relationships, so what did she know? She also, apparently, wasn’t good with hints — came on the day they left Mack down in the tunnel, not knowing if he was dead or alive.

Everyone was upset, but none more so than Bobbi (although she was trying incredibly hard not to show it). Jemma had known she and Mack were good friends and had been for a while, and it hurt her in a way she didn’t understand to know that her friend was hurting (but she had just figured it was because they were friends. At least she thought they were friends. It was really hard to say. Of course, later, Skye would roll her eyes and tell her that her depth of denseness was truly amazing).

Jemma had wanted to help, but she hadn’t known exactly what to do, except stand there awkwardly. But when Bobbi turned around so no one could see her face and casually wiped away a tear that she most definitely hadn’t wanted anyone to see, Jemma had instinctively (and maybe stupidly) reached out and put a hand on her arm.

“It’s going to be okay,” she said. “I have a good feeling.”

Bobbi turned back around and looked at her — _really_ looked at her — and Jemma had had the most horrible feeling that she had so said the wrong thing, but then something amazing happened. Bobbi’s face broke out into a smile and she whispered, “Thank you.”

“Be careful out there,” Jemma had then blurted out. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

Bobbi’s smiled softened. “Same,” she said, and then she put her hand on top of Jemma’s and squeezed it. For a lot longer than was really necessary. Jemma had thought it was just because she was upset. She didn’t need Skye to tell her later that, yes, for a great scientist, her people observation skills clearly needed a whole ton of work.

The fourth clue — well, the fourth clue wasn’t really a clue, per se, because even Jemma wasn’t that naïve — came a couple days later. All of them were dressed in black with matching red-rimmed eyes and all looking like they hadn’t slept in days (none of them really had), they all gathered together to pay their respects.

Nothing felt real anymore. Jemma had never felt exactly safe being a SHIELD agent, but she had forgotten how unsafe it really could be. This team had become her family, and now it felt like one of their legs had been cut off.

She had been standing against the wall in a far corner, just watching everyone, not really daring to go over and try to speak actual words out loud when she looked up and in front of her were the most piercing blues eyes wearing the most tender expression she had ever seen from them.

“I can’t believe he’s gone,” Jemma said. It was all she was thinking, so it was all she could say.

“You know what I keep thinking?” Bobbi said, and Jemma shook her head. “I keep thinking what if it was someone else.”

Jemma nodded. “Yes,” she said. “Like Skye. It could have been Skye.”

“It could have been you.”

“No, it couldn’t have been me. I was perfectly safe.”

Bobbi’s hand came to rest of her shoulder. Her blue eyes suddenly got a lot more piercing, which was sort of a magnificent feat, if one thought about it. “It _could_ have been you,” she repeated, and her voice was low, almost a growl, like she was just daring Jemma to disagree with her.

Jemma didn’t dare. Instead she blinked. “Okay,” she said.

“And I don’t want to lose you,” Bobbi continued.

Jemma stared at her. “Well, I don’t really …”

But the rest of her thought never came out, because suddenly a warm pair of lips was pressing against hers and her whole body felt like an electrical current was running through it and then too soon she was panting against the wall, still staring.

Bobbi did not look at all affected. She looked quite calm in fact.

“Come find me,” she said, as if she were asking about something as mundane as the weather, “if you want to see what happens next.”

(“What I do?” Jemma wailed to Skye later. “OH. MY. GOD!” Skye shouted back.)

That night, Jemma went to find her. She did not regret it for a second.


End file.
